Crowdfunding - Fueling up entrepreneurial dreams

By Renjith VP, SiliconIndia   |    11 Comments
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Crowdfunding - Fueling up entrepreneurial dreams
Bangalore: Many a time, a great creative or business idea spurges in your mind but when you look at the prospects and the budget, you get financially de-motivated. For many people, the thought of taking significant financial risk holds them back from jumping head-long into launching the idea that has been stuck in the recesses of their heart. And if there is someone to advance a venture capital funding to get your idea off the ground? This is where the soul and aim of crowdfunding lies. Today, Crowdfunding is empowering many would-be entrepreneurs to reach for their dreams. Creativity or innovation is something that runs smoothly only in the absence of risk. Crowdfunding which in other words is referred as crowd financing or crowd sourced capital take the risk out of that creativity and innovation, allowing even the little guy to do something amazing. Fueled by a community, and managed by some fantastic sites, which can help you fund your idea, business startup or music project, crowdfunding is just out there to help you. With collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, it is growing into one big marketing or social phenomenon from the tags of charity or philanthropy. While discussing the pros and cons of crowdfunding, the most important thing to consider about Crowdfunding your venture is that this isn't like taking investment. The process can take many forms, and just like taking investment, won't be right for everyone. From startups and non-profits to artists, musicians and filmmakers, people reach out for crowdsourcing mainly through internet, where they state their budget for the venture. The individual or organization then uses their existing networks to leverage the crowd, that's you or me, to donate money to their venture in return for a reward and often this reward is directly related to the venture being funding. Inspired by crowdsourcing, crowdfunding have expanded from the norms of a process which was usually followed by charities or politicians to raise funds. Today, many crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter.com, rockethub.com, fundbreak.com etc play a crucial role in patronizing the ideas of potential entrepreneurs. One part social networking and one part capital accumulation, crowdfunding websites seek to harness the enthusiasm--and pocket money--of virtual strangers, promising them a cut of the returns. Kickstarter alone claims to have realized 650 projects successfully with pledges or donations coming in from 70,000 people around the world since Kickstarter was launched by five friends in April 2009. Crowdfunding is helping a vivid medley of projects from people with crazy or fresh ideas. The projects may be a woman who is circumnavigating the globe solo by boat, a band recording their first CD and a cartoonist travelling to Afghanistan to do political sketches. Crowdfunding is now receiving attention from both commercial and social entrepreneurs, as social media, online communities and micropayment technology make it straightforward to secure donations from potentially interested supporters at very low cost. You got an idea? What are you waiting for - crowdfunding is at your service.

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